:(

Zuul's recent behavior has been very saddening. I wish I could somehow tell her that we'll be home soon and she can relax. Unfortunately, the only apparent way to do this is by indirectly modifying her behavior. This will, of course, take some time. It's very sad to learn that all your love and attention results in a panic stricken dog.

Ultimately this will come out positively. Zuul's compliance for our commands was becoming a little less than stellar. Mostly with the Sits. After just two days, she is MUCH more responsive. It also helps that she is comfortable with Stay and Get on Your Bed. We can send her out of the room or leave her in a room without any barriers until she can calm down a bit.

Last night I was in the bathroom and Megan was holed up working on an application. Zuul was on her bed when I went to the bathroom. Zuul began pacing around looking for one of us. I stayed put. When I came out, Zuul was on her bed. I went to jibba-jabba with Megan. Zuul started to whine from her bed. She was not told to stay so I wasn't sure why she was whining. I ignored her for a bit and she periodically whined. Thinking she must think she's in a Stay, I called out, "Zuul, OK!" She jumped out of her bed and ran down the hall looking for us. She sprinted right by the room Megan and I were in. She ran back the other direction when she could not locate us. She zoomed by the same room again and screeched to a halt just beyond the doorway when she noticed out location. She burst into the room acting like she had not seen us in days. It had been about 20 minutes. :(

Not to say that any of this was unexpected. Weimaraners are well known for separation anxiety.


Zuul seemed to have a good time with Megan's family over the Thanksgiving holiday. However, I think she forgot about them over the first night. She barked at Megan's mother like she was an intruder Friday morning. Zuul realized her mistake and apologized profusely to her. It was cute.


I picked up a new harness for Zuul last night as well. My mother (thanks Mom!) gifted one to Zuul in August when we first adopted her. She was 20 pounds. Now that she is 45 pounds, the harness probably won't fit. Zuul is much too big now to fit in the passenger foot-well so we need to start buckling her in the back seat. This harness will let us do that. I'll give a shout-out to Pet Loft since they were nice and let me trade up to the bigger size without any hassle. Hopefully they can handle the volume from the potential customers that head there. Did I mention there are ones of people reading this blog every week?!

As the calendar goes, Zuul is 6 months old as of November 25th. Crazy!

picture credit: me
picture credit: me

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Separation Anxiety

Due to Zuul's recent separation anxiety that is manifesting itself into Zuul repeatedly scratching her nose on her crate, we are having to change the way we interact with her. I don't know who is taking it hardest: Tom, Zuul or me. I have enjoyed snuggling with Zuul and telling her hello when she comes up to me, but all of that now must change. Tom and I have to reassert ourselves as the pack leaders, so that Zuul won't think she needs to protect us. Somehow this all relates to her separation anxiety. Darn animal behavior! We now have to call her to us if we want to interact with her and ignore her if she comes to us without being summoned. I'm having to use a big, scary, commanding voice to get her to realize I'm the boss. Tom says it isn't scary, but I think otherwise. Getting her to stop tearing her nose apart will probably take a while, but I'm hopeful. Until then, we have provided her with pieces of cardboard to destroy in her crate, so that she can take out her aggression on the cardboard and not the crate. So far, she loves it. Hopefully, she will get over this soon. Otherwise we will have to get her one of those cone head things.

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Zuul, sit. Good dog!

Zuul and I have taken several trips to the park after dark this week to play fetch in the cold and rain. While playing fetch several groups of people walked past and I made Zuul sit and stay before they approached the area where we were playing. Zuul is getting so good at the sit stay! She didn't move for almost a minute each time as strange people walked past her. I won't say she was happy about it. The entire time she was giving me a look that I could only interpret as, "Are you sure you don't want me to bark at them and protect you?" It was adorable and I was sooo proud. I am much less proud of Zuul's on-leash behavior as of late. Her shoulder muscles are getting huge and she is super strong. She thinks she needs to pull me like a log in a log-pull the entire time we walk. I have tried making her sit whenever she pulls, stopping and not moving until there is slack in the leash, and turning in circles each time she pulls. I apparently SUCK at training her to walk well on the leash. This is my goal for December. If I can't get her to stop pulling, I am going to end up with some serious road rash on my face as she gets bigger.

Zuul is on her third hoof in the four pack Tom bought her. She is adorable when she chews on it. Even cuter is watching her run from room to room with it in her mouth as she wags her tail. She is so proud!

My family is visiting this weekend and so Zuul is going to be spoiled rotten with attention. I fear for Monday when she will probably try to tear her crate apart. Hopefully we can exhaust her so much over the weekend that all she will want to do is sleep on Monday.

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Dead Lyssavirus

Zuul had a big day on Saturday. She received her first vaccine for Rabies. We were told it was a dead virus and she should not experience any side affects other than soreness at the injection site and some drowsiness. While at the vet, we learned that Zuul now weighs 45 pounds. She's more than doubled in weight since we first adopted her. She still seems to be on track for 65-70 pounds.

We went to a new park after our trip to the vet. Zuul could not keep her eyes open for the 8 minute drive.


Drowsiness indeed! We found ourselves at Woodstock park. It's not very far from our place and I'm not sure why we have not yet made the trip. Apparently it rains a reasonable amount around these parts. This phenomenon transforms Woodstock park into Woodstock bog. It was a sloppy mess. After running around for a few minutes, Zuul starting foaming at the corners of her mouth. Dead virus? She still looked cute so we didn't worry.

Zuul had a great time getting filthy and watching other dogs play. There was a Boston Terrier/Bulldog trying to enjoy Zuul's ball. It's mouth wasn't quite big enough to get a grip on the ball. It's brain wasn't quite big enough to comprehend this fact and was hesitant to give up. At one point I had the ball in my hand and this dog was jumping to get it and making small-dog sounds. I decided to test Zuul's innate desire to protect her people. I pathetically called out, "Save me, Zuul." She pounced at the dog. It wasn't aggressive, but more of a "Hey, I'm not looking for a fight, just chill out and leave him alone" pounce. Zuul's awesome.

Later, we emptied a container of Zuul's peanut butter. We buy it fresh-ground from the local WinCo (pronounce When-Cah). I thought Zuul might like to retrieve the last remnants from the empty container. She's even cute when her head is jammed inside a plastic tub. Can you believe it?!



Zuul trudged out into the rain on Sunday to play with Harry, Percy, Hannah and Tahlulah. She had a great time chasing Percy and hiding under trees to stay out of the rain. I raced her across the Lane Middle School field. She was able to keep up with me or, rather, I was able to keep up with her. I think she was mocking me. I used to be faster than her. That was 25 pounds ago (not mine, hers!).

When Zuul isn't chewing on a hoof, she's sleeping. She's been sleeping a lot lately. I bet you're surprised to learn that she's cute even when she's sleeping.


picture credit: megan
picture credit: megan
picture credit: me

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Oh behoove!

I would like to apologize for my absence from the last update. This Daylight Saving thing now results in most of Zuul's park time being spent in the near dark. I hate DST so much I actually wrote my Senator when I was living in California (thanks for the SPAM, Barbara). As a result, I find photographing Zuul's exploits challenging. Furthermore, Zuul's faithful readers find a lack of Zuul pictures to be extraordinarily disappointing. Thus, I find myself waiting until I have enough pictures to warrant a post. I will work to improve upon this disappointing circumstance.



Zuul has finally lost her clingon teeth. I noticed Sunday morning when she yawned and I didn't vomit. I quickly checked her mouth and her upper right baby canine was missing. Yay! The lower canine was still there but I could see that its days were numbered. That tooth has since disappeared.

I attribute this latest turn of events to Zuul's latest and most favorite possession: a cow hoof. I picked up a 4-pack at the local Bi-Mart (pronounced Bah-Mat). She chews. Then she chews some more. Then she stands up, turns a circle and chews some more. Then she runs to another room and chews some more. Then she drops in on the hard floor and makes us go deaf and chews some more. Now she chews on her bed at our insistence.


I decided last week it was time to increase Zuul's crate to maximum capacity. I didn't want to do it mid-week so I waited until Friday. Now we can fit Zuu's bed (thanks Mom!) in her crate. I strategerically threw Zuul's blankets (thanks Nana!) on top of her bed. This made her crate a tad too short inside and Zuul's head often found the top of the crate. Her blankets (thanks Nana!) are now strategically placed around the walls of her cage to create more of a nest. She likes it. This morning she ran down the hall after her breakfast to jump back in her crate.

Zuul is coming along great with Stay. She Stays before eating every meal. I vary the time but she's Stayed up to 2 minutes staring at her food on the floor. I even left the room to use the WC. She starting whining and then I felt bad, but she Stayed! I've been working on some more distracting Stays. Zuul Stayed while watching a game of soccer at the park. She's getting the hang of staying when her ball is thrown. This one is touchy since I don't want to discourage her from fetching.


Zuul is finally becoming more comfortable playing with older dogs. She played with Gifford (pictured), Hannah and Tallulah over the weekend. It's nice to see her confidence building. Speaking of playing, Tallulah became enamored with a partially fallen tree branch at the park. Most of the dogs gave a try, including Zuul.


I believe that's it for now.





picture credit: me
picture credit: me
picture credit: me
picture credit: me

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Treats?!

Zuul and I made some more Beef Liver Treats last night. She was excited as could be and the baking seemed to take forever. I let Zuul smell the raw beef liver before I threw it in the food processor. She was hooked, again. Usually she runs from machines but she eagerly sniffed at the whirring processor. Megan and I had pancakes for breakfast with plenty leftover. I tore a piece; dipped it in the beef liver batter. Zuul was ready to do anything. She sniffed around and around the kitchen trying to find the source of the lovely (overwhelming) aroma.


Yum!

The three of us were invited to our first dog/people party on Friday. It was at Jennifer's, the mother of Hannah, presumably a flat-coated retriever. We had a good time with our new friends from the park. Zuul ran around for a few hours and Megan and I munched on calzones by the fire. Zuul was pooped.

I mowed the lawn on Saturday and Zuul enjoyed rolling around in the fresh cut grass with the sun shining on her belly. She's cute! We were out of view of the entry gate when Zuul heard it opening. She bolted around the corner and started barking her little heart out. I heard the gate closing as I came around the corner. A vote solicitor was backing away from the gate, changing her mind about her uninvited entrance. She tried talking to me as Zuul barked away. I told her to wait a moment and let Zuul bark a little more. I told Zuul, "That's enough!" She promptly stopped and looked as proud as could be. Two for two! I think the solicitor was shocked to see that kind of barking power out of our little Zuulie.

Lilith walked by with Percy and Harry. Zuul and I were invited over to Jennifer's again (they're good friends). We obliged and I soon found myself munching on calzones again. Zuul discovered the joy of a hoof as chew toy. We'll be picking up some of those soon. Lilith and Jennifer highly recommended them. She should not run into the same problems she had with the raw-hide bones.

Sunday was spent watching Peyton Manning choke against the Patriots. Megan was not thrilled. Zuul was happy to be sleeping on my sister's couch.

Until next time.

photo credit: me

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No Loitering or Soliciting on this Property

Zuul is 40 pounds of pure, solid awesome. The three of us were walking out the door yesterday on a trek to the park. Zuul jumped out first and started barking towards the gate right away. I was just behind her and noticed the object of her attention: a solicitor wearing a bad suit and worse tennis shoes. He was right at our gate and backing away fast. I looked at him. Megan came out, looked at him. Meanwhile Zuul is spouting the most glorious barks evar. I let Zuul bark for a good ten seconds to be sure she had learned a terrific lesson. I said, "That's enough!" (we've been working on that command) and she stopped, looked at me so proud of herself. I showered her with praise. Yes, he was still standing there. Mr. Solicitor decided he should probably do something with his time and proceeded to attempt contact with us. I ignored him as I was still busy praising Zuul. Megan convinced him his kind was not wanted.

Yay, Zuul!

Sorry, no pictures!

edit:

I feel bad not having pictures. You get a Haiku:

solicitor: bark!
proud as the autumn season
oh, Zuulie, You Nut

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